Trump, Sanders win US nominating contests in New Hampshire

Riding a wave of voter anger at traditional politicians, billionaire Donald Trump won New Hampshire’s Republican presidential nominating contest on Tuesday and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Democratic primary.

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The results, though decisive, did little to clear up confusion about who would emerge as the establishment contender to Trump on the Republican side, and there were signs that the campaign of Sanders’ rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was defensive about her future prospects.

Trump’s win solidifies his front-runner status in the race to be the party’s White House nominee for the Nov. 8 election. The former reality television star, 69, has campaigned to deport illegal immigrants and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Ohio Governor John Kasich was projected to win second place in the Republican race, ABC News and MSNBC reported.

Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has called for eradicating income inequality, breaking up the big banks and providing free college tuition. He had 59 percent of the vote based on about 32 percent of the vote, ahead of former Secretary of State Clinton, who had 39 percent, CNN said.

“Together we have sent the message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California, and that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors,” Sanders said in his victory speech.

Clinton had for months been the front-runner nationally. But a Reuters/Ipsos poll done Feb 2-5 showed Clinton and Sanders now in a dead heat.

Clinton, 68, congratulated Sanders, 74, in a speech to supporters. She defended her progressive stances and vowed to be the candidate who fixes problems and not just state them. She appealed to African-American and Latino voters and acknowledged she had work to do winning over young voters. Read more